Doing it their way: authors producing films.

The writing duo of Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant is in the early stages of producing To,in' to Sleep in the Bed You Made (St. Martin's Press, 1997), their novel about the lives of three friends, as an independent film--for release late in 2008--to coincide with publication of the sequel, Gotta Keep on Tryin' (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) in January 2008.

The authors, who are working with film producers Tyrha Lindsey and Tracey Kemble and a team of financial advisers on the project, say they are looking for investors and have a commitment from the actress Regina King to play the lead. They are calling their new company 4 Colored Girls Productions. Investor meetings were held in Maryland in September 2006 and in New Jersey in late January. (Anyone interested in learning more about the investment opportunity may contact Lindsey at 908-672-6024, [e-mail] or [e-mail].)

"I'm quickly finding out that making a movie is a process that has its own universe, and moreover, that while making an independent feature gives you the latitude and control to make the movie you want as opposed to what the studios decide we should have, it is also its own special brand of insanity," DeBerry wrote to potential investors. "But other people do it every day--Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino and, most recently, Tyler Perry--so why shouldn't we?"

Meanwhile, Omar Tyree, the author of 14 novels, announced that he is putting the finishing touches on his first independent feature film, The Lure of Young Women, about a film producer and the seductions of the world of entertainment.

He plans to begin a national screening tour in March, starting in Charlotte, North Carolina.